


A Silver Lining Scar

by SoldierOfMyShadowyMind



Series: I Won't Fall When You're Shook [8]
Category: Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Angst, Bad Puns, Banter, Codependency, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, Eddie and Venom are proud parents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Love, Married Couple, Other, Possessive Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Protective Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Romance, Sharing a Body, Sleeper is a little shit, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and an adorable little blob, doughnuts, seriously this is so soft, soft, symbiote family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 06:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16697278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoldierOfMyShadowyMind/pseuds/SoldierOfMyShadowyMind
Summary: Ours.The whisper fills Eddie’s entire being, echoing from the walls of his mind, breaking like waves on the shore of his consciousness, weaving through his memories and settling comfortably in his bones like the truth it has always been.“Yes, my love” he whispers back. “Ours.”It’s about doing something right. It’s about belief and change and a craving Eddie understands all too well. It’s about making a difference.Eddie is all Venom ever hoped for. Sleeper is more.





	A Silver Lining Scar

**Author's Note:**

> So, I’ve been covering ground on the Venom comics front but since I’m trying to read as much as possible I’m still somewhere in the 90s and haven’t even looked at Venom 2016 (or the Flash Thompson era) let alone any of the recent comics yet. That being said, I already lost my heart to precious little goo baby Sleeper because it is impossible not to love him.  
> Well, and then I went grocery shopping a few days ago and this happened. The alternative title for this was “Sleeper discovers doughnuts” and that’s really what this is all about. Or was, before I wrote all the additional emotional hurt/comfort. So I guess what came out in the end is silliness with serious undertones. Voilà, some up and down fluff and angst mix of movie and comics Venom, hopelessly charmed Eddie, and curious baby Sleeper utterly fascinated by doughnuts. You have been warned.

“Sleeper, come on down” Eddie begs, holding his hand as high up as he can manage, standing on his toes. Of all the times he’s cursed those few inches his body refused to grow, he’d never imagined a scenario quite like this. “Your parents need to go grocery shopping or otherwise today’s dinner will look very bleak.” He stretches that millimetre higher, bracing both hands on the countertop, trying to catch a glimpse at his roguish son.

It’s a bit like trying to coax a scared cat out from under the sofa. An insouciant, terribly smug cat.

Sleeper’s newest obsession is finding the smallest places to see if he can fit in there – his boldest adventure yet had been his honourable but futile attempt to squeeze into a shot glass. The memory of greenish black goo oozing all over the rim of the glass, Sleeper looking miffed and a little defeated makes Eddie chuckle and he loses his balance, tipping backwards. Venom catches him, like he always does, anchoring his feet to the ground and securing his hold on the edge of the kitchen counter, inky tendrils coiling around Eddie’s wrists and staying there a moment longer than strictly necessary before retreating in a slow, gentle caress.

Eddie smiles. “Thanks, love” he mumbles, tracing the invisible lines where Venom had touched his skin. He feels a pleasant shudder run through his body, giving him goosebumps and softening into a lingering tingle at the base of his spine. He’s used to these sensations by now, feeling his other in his veins, being able to pinpoint exactly where Venom hovers in their shared body and yet it still makes him grin like a fool every time he feels Venom’s response to him, his words, actions, faint feelings that he doesn’t bother or sometimes doesn’t dare explore further. Venom knows them all, anyway, and he knows how to handle each and every one of Eddie’s moods and quirks. Anne always says they’re a good team, but she doesn’t know the half of it and Eddie is happy to keep it just between him and Venom, private and cherished.

It’s odd, really, associating Venom’s presence with privacy. But Eddie’s learned long ago that Venom tends to give things a whole new meaning. His life has been turned upside down and rotated around enough for Eddie to find steadiness and comfort in the second voice in his head.

Eddie quirks an eyebrow, glancing up at the barely visible tiny tendril peeking over the edge of the kitchen cupboard. “You could help, you know” he tells Venom, “After all, Sleeper’s primarily your son.”

That earns him an amused rumble that, as Venom follows his words, crumbles halfway into an angry, somewhat choked up sound. **_I told you, Eddie, he is ours._** The accompanying emotion is shockingly powerful and Eddie unconsciously tightens his grip on the counter.

“I know, Vee, all I’m saying is—”

**_Don’t. Argue._** Venom’s booming voice fills his head and Eddie is stunned into silence by the sheer power and determination rattling through his bones as Venom, almost threateningly, extends into every corner of their body, rushing through him like a too-hot shower, not taking control but asserting his presence and making his point.

Eddie sighs. He’s still new to this and he wants to say they both are and while that is true in a heartbreaking way there are also things for the both of them that they have to come to terms with on their own. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t love every single second of being a father but it is, admittedly, a little different from what he imagined. Eddie always wanted a family and as much as he enjoys his work, he’d have been happy to be a stay-at-home dad and show his kids where mummy hides the cookies. He’s still not sure if he’d have ever had that with Anne, though, she’d always been clear that her career came first and the last thing Eddie wanted was to stand in her way. But he loved her and he would have been willing to compromise if it meant he got to spend the rest of his life with her. Now that that’s off the table… well, suffice to say that Eddie never, not in his wildest dreams, not even after being possessed by an alien, almost dying in the flaming wreckage of a rocket, and days spent in hot and cold anxiety trying to find again the best thing that had ever happened to him in his tragic life, imagined he’d some day wake up to Venom curled comfortably around his torso, head resting on Eddie’s chest, watching him with lazy eyes and a soft toothy grin, declaring he’d just become a father.

Venom probably hadn’t counted on Eddie having a full ten minute freak-out and then cooing incoherently over the tiny endearing blob snuggled peacefully into the palm of his hand for an entire hour.

Eddie knows Sleeper is his. In a way beyond human understanding. He doesn’t know how it works and he’s too wary of the thin ice he’s treading on to ask but the honour and the _trust_ Sleeper embodies, unknowingly, is humbling. Eddie has a son and it’s more than enough.

And slightly terrifying whenever he thinks about telling Annie and Dan. He’ll have to at some point but for now, he decides, it can wait.

Instead of words, Eddie sends images, of their little family, gathered together in front of the TV, snuggled up close with Venom curled protectively around the small, happy blob on Eddie’s shoulder. Of Eddie chasing Sleeper through the entire apartment, the little symbiote squeaking in delight. Of them playing hide and seek (and where is the point, really, when you can essentially see through each other’s eyes – even if Eddie’s bond with Sleeper is of a slightly different nature). It seems to appease Venom and he accepts the apology, settling back into his spot at Eddie’s neck. Smiling softly, Eddie slowly extends a hand, holding it over his shoulder and after a second of hesitation he feels a reluctant tendril slither over his fingers and down his wrist to wind around his arm in warm, velvety loops.

“I’m not arguing” he assures his partner. He knows how much little Sleeper means to Venom. He never asked and Venom has only ever told him parts of the whole story but Eddie’s seen the memories as the floodgates had opened at the sight of the youngest offspring. Eddie had trembled at the revelations these thoughts and emotions bore, threaded through with pain and loss and the crushing feeling of giving up. A melancholy so all-consuming that Eddie had felt swallowed by it, plunging into the depths of his other’s despair. The frightening helplessness he’d felt hadn’t been his own and had shown him how little his own worries meant in comparison to something so powerful it felt eternal. The fear and doubt of failure and regret tightly entwined with a small kindling yearning had been impossible to escape from. A soul-crushing loneliness. Being faulted for wanting to do good, being proven wrong again and again, laughed at for wanting a bond to mean something, for wanting to be more than a predator, a parasite. Seeking something more than acceptance. _Redemption._

Eddie is all Venom ever hoped for. Sleeper is more.

It’s about doing something right. It’s about belief and change and a craving Eddie understands all too well. When the right moment comes he intends to breach the subject, ask about the others. He knows he’ll be pouring salt into wounds not yet healed but the thread of hope he had found woven through the most recent memories, that he feels every time Venom regards Sleeper, watching over him with such aching, endless fondness, makes Eddie’s heart clench painfully. They might not need words but Eddie feels as though talking about it might help more than their more intimate kind of sharing, giving voice to these thoughts, making them more abstract than seeing the frayed, luridly coloured memories.

Eddie would feel less as if he’s intruding on something too personal.

He drops a kiss to the tendril looped around his wrist. “But we do have to strap our son in the child seat and get going before the shop closes.”

Venom wants Sleeper to be better than himself. And he trusts Eddie with it.

Venom hums and the tendril, without unwinding, never letting go, grows longer until it reaches up to the top of the kitchen cupboard.

**_It was amusing, watching your increasingly gawky attempts fail. Moron._ **

Eddie makes a face. “Yeah, as if he listens to you.” He ignores the amused chuckle and turns his attention back to the task at hand. Sleeper’s currently positively boxed in. Eddie had long forgotten about that old wooden cigar box he kept on top of the kitchen cupboard and he doesn’t even remember the contents. Apparently, it makes for a very comfortable lair for a young symbiote, however, judging by Sleeper’s reluctance to acknowledge the world out there.

“Come on, you precious little noodle, you’ve got to learn to think out of the box” Eddie deadpans. “It’s something of a quality here on Earth.” He mentally shoves at Venom’s sceptical jab to his shoulder and rolls his eyes. Desperate times, desperate measures.

“All right, you brought this onto yourself. No chocolate for little symbiotes who can’t behave.” He hears a faint, horrified shriek even as Venom gasps, prying himself away from Eddie’s bones momentarily, shocked.

**_But Eddie! He needs the phenethylamine!_ **

Eddie silently congratulates himself as he hears the wooden box cautiously creak open. “You’ve got a lot to learn about parenting, buddy” he tells his partner. Venom does tend to go far too soft on their beloved gooey little baby. Eddie can’t fault him for it, this is the first time Venom experiences familial love let alone gets a chance to raise his offspring and play a role in his future. For all he dislikes having to play bad cop at times, Eddie is completely enchanted by how much Venom loves Sleeper. And if it makes Venom materialise more often, wrapping the two of them in inky hugs, well, Eddie tries not to give away just how much he doesn’t complain about that.

It’s playing for keeps. The wistful tinge to the quieter moments causes a kind of sadness that Eddie supposes is a sign that they’re learning to do this right. The opposite of surrender. It’s a start.

Venom can’t seem to decide whether to mope or concede Eddie’s point so he does both for about half a second before his attention gets snagged away by the small head peering out of the box. Eddie melts a little at the warmth and joy flooding through his body.

“Hello, sleepyhead” he winks at Sleeper who glances around as if to ascertain whether the coast is clear. Eddie sends a reassuring pulse over their bond, his heart breaking a little at how intimidated the tiny creature looks. If that is even possible.

Sleeper is starting to learn that under Eddie’s sometimes stern expression, a smile is ever-present, and that really, Sleeper has got Eddie so thoroughly under his spell that Eddie could never be angry at him. The beautiful little thing stirs up too many wondrous emotions in him for Eddie to deny him anything. Especially not his favourite dish. Together, Venom and Sleeper devour a gigantic amount of chocolate. It doesn’t exactly weigh lightly on Eddie’s still limited funds but anything is better than eating people. They’ve both agreed not to introduce Sleeper to grown-up food for a while yet and that too, Eddie suspects, has something to do with Venom’s urge to be _good_. Eddie tells him, again and again, that he is and it hurts a little that Venom doesn’t have the courage to believe him just yet. Wanting to be enough isn’t easy when you’re not sure there’s something in you to adore, something worth it.

As it is, for the time being, Sleeper gets to munch on rather unhealthy mountains of chocolate. Any parent would be appalled at Eddie’s child-rearing strategies but he likes to think he’s got a pretty good handle on this.

He’s got to face it, his two darlings have him completely wrapped around their metaphorical finger. Even if Sleeper likes to demonstrate the literal opposite, being carried around wound around Eddie’s finger is one of his favourite pastimes. He loves the spot almost as much as being snuggled in Eddie’s breast pocket, tiny head peeking over the seam or crouching on Eddie’s shoulder, his other dad on the other shoulder, an unequal black scarf threaded through with green strands.

Deciding it’s safe enough Sleeper moulds himself into a vaguely serpentine shape, much like his dad likes to do, and slips out of the wooden box, the lid falling closed as he glides down Venom’s tendril bridging the gap between the cupboard and Eddie’s outstretched palms. Squealing excitedly Sleeper flops down into Eddie’s hands, tilting his tiny head at him in expectation. Eddie shifts him to his left hand, cradling the adorable creature and gently stroking Sleeper’s head. The little symbiote purrs contentedly, melting into a gooey puddle, dripping through the spaces between Eddie’s fingers. Eddie laughs, utterly charmed at his son’s literal understanding of human figures of speech, as Venom emerges from his shoulder, forming a head and observing the display before him with affectionate approval. Venom nuzzles Eddie’s cheek, rubbing his head against the stubble there, and Eddie turns his head slightly to kiss him, slow and tender and lingering. His other responds by pressing closer, as close as can be without melding into one. A faint urge pulls at the edges of their shared mind, a small flare of desperation and longing that Eddie is quick to chase away with more affectionate kisses, sweet and meaningful.

Eddie shakes his head at himself. How did he end up with these two melodramatic fools? He supposes he fits right in.

“Okay, Sleeps, let’s get you settled in” Eddie says and nods at Venom who swiftly scoops Sleeper up and gently deposits him on Eddie’s head. It’s a funny feeling, warm and tickling and a little wet. Eddie throws his jacket on and grabs his keys as Venom pulls a hat over his head, hiding Sleeper under it, and tucks a bag into Eddie’s pocket, the two of them perfectly in sync. (They had tried keeping Sleeper in Eddie’s jacket pocket the first few times but that method had proved alarmingly ineffective as the little shit kept slipping away, always curious.)

It’s not so different from having a human child, after all, Eddie supposes. He just gets to laugh at different dumb things and the reprimands he voices sound a little more ridiculous.

 

~~~

 

Mrs Chen smirks knowingly at him when he enters the shop and he winks at her. It’s probably telling that she knows more about his life than Anne does.

“Evening, Mrs C” he greets and ambles over to the frozen food section. Tater Tots are an obligatory item on his shopping list, as well as chicken nuggets (preferably animal-shaped) and chocolate. The shop is empty this late in the day and Eddie lazily peruses the aisles, dropping the odd item in his bag.

“Still haven’t managed to get him to eat more healthily, have you?” Mrs Chen comments from behind the counter.

“What can I do when all the insatiable maws demand is fast food and candy?” Eddie shrugs innocently, half-heartedly skimming over the label of a bottle of peach juice before throwing it to the rest of his purchase.

“I wasn’t talking to you” Mrs Chen points out dryly.

“Ah, but you know, parasites aren’t too fond of greens” Eddie quips. He feels Venom stir along his spine, irritated at the use of the despised nickname. He knows Eddie doesn’t mean it but that does little to make Venom react any less angrily. Eddie has given up the hope that his jesting usage of the word will lessen its sting. He sends a silent apology; he understands where Venom’s aversion to the word comes from but it still slips sometimes. “And it’s really hard to make the kid eat the stuff when his daddy’s such a bad example.”

He can’t see the unimpressed shrug but he can hear it in her voice. “All the more reason for you to try harder.”

“Hey!” Eddie exclaims, indignant, turning around with one hand on his hip.

Mrs Chen merely gives him a disinterested once-over that clearly says _I will say ‘I told you so’ when the time comes. And believe me, it will._ “How’s the little one doing?” she asks and Eddie’s face softens from mock-affront into a slightly dazed grin.

“Ah, you know, kids these days.” He waves the hand that isn’t holding the bag around in a vague gesture. “You might be able to expand in the near future from all the money you make selling me sickening amounts of chocolate.” Eddie throws her a cheery grin but Mrs Chen merely raises a sceptical eyebrow.

“It’s going to need more than that” she deadpans.

A can of soup and a green smoothie – everyone’s drinking those these days, Eddie supposes it won’t harm to try one even if they do carry a somewhat unappetising air – find their way into the shopping bag as Eddie shakes his head, forehead crinkled in mock-disbelief, his tone mildly chiding when he says, “Pessimism can be toxic. You should try meditating.”

She makes him buy a bunch of vegetables, some sweet potatoes, and an assortment of DVDs he definitely doesn’t need as payback.

“Night, Mrs Chen!” Eddie calls as he grabs his bag and turns to leave.

“Night Mrs Chen!” a tiny voice echoes and when Eddie squints upwards he finds Sleeper sneaking out from under his hat.

“Sleeper” he reprimands but Mrs Chen is smiling at the little creature with a softness in her eyes that’s terribly contagious. If this is the reaction Sleeper elicits in people, maybe Eddie should reconsider staving off telling Annie and Dan. Besides Venom and Sleeper they’re the only family he has and he knows Anne worries about him more than she should. He makes a mental note to drop by next week.

He’ll make this work. They will. Weird, chaotic dysfunctional family that they are.

“Being a father becomes you” Mrs Chen tells Eddie and he nods at her, nudging the little symbiote to make him disappear into his hideout again. He’s beginning to think it really does. His days seem that little bit brighter, the mornings not as dreaded as they used to be before he found Venom, and for the first time he feels as if he truly fits in somewhere even if his version of a family is something else entirely. It doesn’t redefine the concept, not at all. It’s merely unique, the first of its kind in the intangible vastness of the universe. Eddie is immensely proud of it. Of them.

Having Sleeper means taking on responsibility but Eddie wants it. Wants to prove to everyone else that he can take care of someone else – probably better than he can take care of himself –, wants to prove to Venom that he made the right decision trusting him with this, wants to prove to himself that he can be a good father without messing this up, that someone can depend on him instead of Eddie depending on everyone around him. He wants to be there for his family, provide.

Eddie didn’t know he had this much love. Carrying it around unused, neglected, locked away in a hardened mind and a heavily walled heart he’d forgotten that while love and pain went hand in hand, love and happiness weren’t two mutually exclusive concepts, either. And now that he has someone to give it to he feels as if he could face anything. His heart swells as he exits Mrs Chen’s shop and he barely feels the biting chill of the onsetting night against the blush in his cheeks.

**_Eddie?_ **

“Yes?” he mumbles, trying to hide his stupid grin.

**_You are heating up._ **

Having Venom helpfully point that out make Eddie blush even harder. “Thanks for letting me know” he grumbles into the collar of his jacket.

A low rumble buzzes at the base of his skull and Venom sounds far too entertained when he pipes up again. **_It’s the same reaction you displayed when I told you we were married._**

Eddie chokes on thin air – and it’s far too reminiscent of the first time this particular topic came up – and has a hard time getting his mouth to function properly. “Because you sprung it on me completely out of the blue! How was I supposed to react?” he stammers, adding a little hiss at the end because for one, he has no desire to discuss this in public, the streets of San Francisco really have no business hearing about his love life, and secondly, “We are not talking about this in front of Sleeper!”

That merely earns him a patronising chuckle. **_Eddie, I love you, but you are an idiot._**

He tries to protest but like so often in his private life, his words fail him, reserved for the journalist in him, paying the ordinary persona of Eddie Brock no mind.

“I was feeling fine, great actually, but go on, ruin it.” He pouts a little, for emphasis, and throws a frown in for good measure. Venom only laughs at him in his head.

And yes, maybe Eddie is still not used to calling Vee his husband because… It’s just all a little much and there’s only so much a mere humble human can take. Plus – and he can’t stress this enough – Venom had chosen the most inopportune moment for enlightening him on this particular subject. Then again, his partner seemed to have a knack for bad timing and making Eddie feel uncomfortable. Eddie’s life sure isn’t the least bit boring nowadays.

That being said, he doesn’t object to the idea per se, he just kept telling himself he first needed to make sure Venom understood the meaning this phrase carries. Eddie knows just as well as Venom that he was buying time, trying to figure himself out, their life and all its implications. Just when he thought he had established a relatively firm grip on things, Venom waltzed in throwing something else out there that Eddie wasn’t quite ready to hear. It’s funny, in a way, since this has always been Eddie’s approach of choice, presenting people with fait accompli, leaving them little time to consider or react. Venom’s direct nature didn’t exactly help. Eddie’s thought about it a lot, pondering their relationship and where they stood until it occurred to him that it had been clear from the start where it was going. The only way was up and while Eddie had always insisted he wanted a choice in matters, had always thought that for all his favour of fearlessly dashing forward, he wanted to take things slow because this was new and very much unchartered territory and, as he came to realise, the one relationship that mattered to him most. It had taken him some time to see that Venom had always given him a choice, hidden in the loaded pauses following his audacious statements. That Venom was, overwhelmed at finally having found what he’d almost stopped hoping for, throwing himself into it, so wholeheartedly devoted to Eddie and sharing everything with him, unable to keep these little truths to himself.

Eddie had done a lot of thinking, carefully opening door after door, not sure whether he should be afraid of what was lurking behind. He knew he’d never been the best with inter-personal communication where certain issues were concerned but he was nothing if not open about his feelings. But even without Venom’s nagging persuasion he finally came to realise he was happy with where they were going, that he didn’t mind being stuck with the alien in his body, revealing those little things as what they were – truths. And yes, he would never have a certificate that officially declared him a married man but a piece of paper could never carry the significance their relationship had, a meaning far beyond the general conception of the word. The one reassurance Eddie needed, the one important thing he couldn’t brush aside was getting his partner to understand what Eddie wanted this to mean, seeing as his life with Anne had shattered around his feet so suddenly and completely. And Venom understood.

Here he was now, Edward Allan Brock, married, father to a wonderful son, both feet firmly on the ground.

Who would’ve thought he’d come to enjoy this chaos of a life?

Eddie shakes his head, turning his face into the wind that sweeps through the street, cooling the blush that fades with every step he gets closer to home.

**_I didn’t ruin the mood,_** Venom insists, because he is a bastard. **_I ruined_ you _. For everyo—_**

For the second time this evening Eddie trips over his own feet. “For fu— heaven’s sake, would you stop talking, Vee!” Banter or not, Sleeper is much too young to hear any of this and Eddie is not going to explain lewd euphemisms to his son.

Eddie is positive he can _feel_ Venom’s grin but he lets himself be assuaged as Venom bleeds through his skin underneath his hoodie, gently plastering himself to his skin, forming another layer against the November chill and wrapping himself around Eddie’s shoulders, as much a hug as a shield and Eddie snorts, biting his lip at the rush of affection mingled with embarrassment he feels at the possessiveness.

Venom tightens his grip a fraction and ripples through him, happily.

Turning the corner Eddie suddenly feels something warm and syrupy trickle down his forehead and neck, tiny tendrils tickling the shell of his ear. The hat lifts infinitesimally and Sleeper fights his way through strings of wool into the open, bending down so that red eyes stare into Eddie’s.

“Hey there, sailor” Eddie says. “Looking for trouble, are we?”

The little symbiote peeps in gleeful agreement, slithering further down Eddie’s forehead. Eddie is pretty sure that running around with suspicious slime oozing out from under his hat looks fishy to about everyone else in this country but his attempts to get Sleeper’s attention all fall short. Not that Venom is of much help, he seems eternally amused by Eddie’s useless efforts.

Wanting to avoid drawing attention to him, Eddie ducks into a nearby doorway, turning his back to the street. Putting his bag down he reaches upwards in order to take off his hat and get Sleeper settled properly and out of sight again but the little devil dodges his attempt and starts poking Eddie’s temple and whining increasingly loudly.

“What’s the matter, chap?” Eddie looks up but instead of following Sleeper’s mental directions he stops short at the sight of the shop window they’re standing in front of. The world inside looks cosy, a petite bakery with a couple of tables set out in the back of the shop, the counter almost empty except for a few leftovers from today’s load of baked goods. The shop must be new, Eddie doesn’t remember passing by it. It’s the outside world that trips Eddie up, however, the transparent image of him painted on the glass of the window, black-green goo pouring down his forehead, hat shoved back a little to allow a small head to peek out. He’s aware that there are people inside the shop, they might spot him or worse, see Sleeper, but he can’t help the goofy grin that tugs at the corners of his mouth. The utter adorableness of their reflection stuns him for a moment and Eddie is overwhelmed by a fierce wave of love for his little son and he stares, thunderstruck and lost for words.

Sleeper nudges the bridge of his nose and Eddie snaps out of his reverie, hastily lowering his head and shielding Sleeper from view. He blinks, frowning at himself for letting his guard down in public. Eddie blames his terribly endearing blob of a son.

Very adamant to get his father to listen to him, Sleeper points a thin tendril at the shop window and this time Eddie dutifully follows the line of sight. There isn’t much left on display so Eddie quickly spots what’s got Sleeper so excited.

“Doughnuts? You want a doughnut?”

Sleeper bristles happily in affirmation under Eddie’s hat and Eddie scrunches up his nose. That tickles. It’s a stab in the back for his dignity that he’d lose in a tickle fight with his son. Small sacrifices, he supposes. Said little menace pokes him in the eye to get him to focus and Eddie opens his mouth to chide him but Venom cuts him off.

**_Get him that thing. It’s got chocolate, it’s good for him._ **

Being the only human in this family can be quite tough. Eddie finally understands how Anne felt like growing up surrounded by brothers.

Eddie knows he’s overruled but he won’t admit defeat without an argument, just for the sake of it. “Humans usually have a close eye on their children’s sugar intake” he points out.

Venom knocks him down with an unimpressed, **_Irrelevant,_** and Eddie rolls his eyes for good measure.

“But you get Sleeper under control” he says, grumbling into the collar of his jacket even as he picks up his bag and pushes the door to the bakery open.

Something warm creeps up the back of his neck as Venom winds tendrils up under Eddie’s hat and around their son, tugging him out of sight in the blink of an eye. Eddie hears Sleeper’s faint protests subside as Venom loops a tendril around him like a soft barrier, protective instincts unconsciously winning out.

Eddie feels vaguely like he’s carrying a bird’s nest on his head.

Inside the bakery it’s warm, a mix of delicious aromas wafting through the air, and Eddie rubs his freezing hands together as he steps up to the counter. The young man behind it throws him a smile and Eddie returns the greeting.

“One chocolate doughnut, please” he says but as he watches the man carry out his order a compelling thought presents itself and Eddie traces its origin, amused when he feels something prod at his mind. For all his persuasive power, subtlety has never been Venom’s strong suit. “Make that three” he amends.

Eddie pays and makes a mental note to come back at some point, maybe even appointing this bakery his new regular place for his morning coffee supply.

 

~~~

 

He’s barely through the door when Sleeper escapes, flopping down onto Eddie’s shoulder and right into the bag of groceries. Eddie watches, eyebrows raised in amusement, physically mirroring Venom’s mental shake of the head. “Next time, you play hat” he says and walks over to the fridge to put the groceries away. He fishes Sleeper out of the paper bag with the doughnuts – much to the young symbiote’s dismay – and deposits him on the table while he puts out one doughnut on a plate for Sleeper, stuffs the second one in his mouth and holds the third out over his shoulder for Venom. His partner – _husband_ , Eddie corrects himself – manifests, tongue darting out to surprisingly gracefully take the offered pastry from Eddie’s hand. It’s incredibly touching how Venom is trying so hard to be a good example for Sleeper. At the core, under that mocking exterior, he’s earnest and committed, loyal, and so very proud of his son. He still gulps the doughnut down in one go.

Eddie hums to himself, random tunes, as he finishes up in the kitchen and then goes to check his emails. There’s nothing terribly important there so he postpones answering until tomorrow. Shutting down his laptop he leans back in his chair, letting his eyes wander aimlessly. Unsurprisingly, they settle on Sleeper but the sight Eddie finds there makes his eyebrows shoot up, rendering him speechless.

Sleeper is giggling softly, curled up in the hole in the middle of the doughnut, reminding Eddie vaguely of those little figurines they put on pastries around Halloween. He chuckles lowly, charmed by the sight in front of him and simply watches for a moment as Sleeper coos and purrs happily in his chocolate smeared nest.

Feeling a sudden craving for hot chocolate Eddie gets up and starts to pad over to the kitchen. The scraping noise the chair makes against the floor boards must have disturbed Sleeper for he perks up and, upon spotting Eddie, crawls out of the hole and winds himself around the doughnut possessively, glaring up at his father.

Eddie laughs, reminded of a dragon guarding its treasure, but then holds his hands up in defence. “Rest assured, I’m not here to steal from you” he assures him. Sleeper regards him for a moment, then apparently decides Eddie is no threat and turns his attention back to the doughnut where he starts nibbling at the chocolate icing.

Eddie smiles to himself as he grabs three mugs from the cupboard, occasionally throwing glances over his shoulder. Sleeper continues to find the piece of pastry utterly hilarious and Eddie mentally prepares himself for having to buy daily doses of doughnuts in the near future. But if it makes his son happy, who is he to deny him? Eddie might only ever get this once shot at raising a kid and he’s going to pour his heart and soul into it. Sleeper is too precious and Eddie loves him dearly and he silently begs whatever higher powers there are to let the days go by slower.

**_He is._** Venom slowly crawls up from where he’s been resting in Eddie’s side, apparently napping or whatever equivalent of rest it is a symbiotic organism requires, observing his surroundings with only mild interest. **_Precious._**

Eddie smiles as he hums in agreement, gently rubbing his neck, knowing Venom feels it, and for a moment or two they simply stand there, basking in the feedback loop of each other’s contentment. Inky tendrils wrap around Eddie’s chest, tight enough to be felt but not pressing down, tender and affectionate, a mirror of the soft warmth he feels inside as Venom ripples through him, waves of calm and reassurance. Eddie leans into it, closing his eyes and letting Venom take control of his feet and balance, letting himself be held for a while.

**_Ours._** The whisper fills Eddie’s entire being, echoing from the walls of his mind, breaking like waves on the shore of his consciousness, weaving through his memories and settling comfortably in his bones like the truth it has always been.

“Yes, my love” he whispers back. “Ours.”

A tendril snakes over his chest as more wrap around him, reaching down to Eddie’s hand, drawing imaginative patterns on the exposed skin of Eddie’s forearms where he’d pushed up his sleeves. Eddie opens his palm, heart steady and mind calm, and Venom accepts the invitation, winding soft, warm blackness around his wrist and hand, fitting himself perfectly in the spaces between Eddie’s fingers. Eddie holds on to him, fingertips touching silky ink, and he lets himself fall a little deeper into this, everything that they are. Inevitable, inexorable, irrevocable; intimacy so intense the lines blur, a forest fire of emotion. He feels the two of them in this one body, the rightness of it, the love that runs through the fibres of two beings, bonded, together. Safe.

Blinking his eyes open, Eddie pretends he doesn’t feel the slight blush colouring his cheeks and pointedly doesn’t think about how with Venom, _for life_ means even more than that. It’s an aching tenderness, an otherworldly sweetness, vast and near at the same time, encompassing. Biting his lip to hide the shy smile blossoming there, he goes on the quest for cocoa but Venom gently nudges his hands away.

**_Let me._ **

Eddie does. He watches as Venom retrieves the box of cocoa from the back of the cupboard, sets out a saucepan to heat up the milk, and stirs the brown powder into the mugs, never once commandeering Eddie’s hands, tendrils weaving gently through the air and the space before him. Venom echoes Eddie’s earlier absent-minded humming, soft tones thrumming through Eddie’s veins. The fact that Venom is doing it unconsciously – Eddie knows, he feels the distant quality to it – warms Eddie from the tips of his toes. This is one of the best things, getting to witness and observe Venom adopting his human habits.

Hot chocolate poured and standing steaming on the counter, Venom holds the bag of mini marshmallows out to Eddie and Eddie complies, grabbing a handful and distributing them equally. Venom proceeds to pick up the mugs and Eddie walks them over to the sofa, smiling to himself. His husband is a true gentleman.

Eddie settles into the cushions, cradling a steaming mug in each hand, he takes a sip from one of them, already a little drowsy with the warmth he’s enveloped in. “Hey, Sleeps” he calls out, glancing over to the table. The doughnut is gone and Sleeper is sitting on the plate, munching on the last bits. He perks up at the sound of Eddie’s voice. “Wanna come over and watch one of those probably terrible movies Mrs Chen made us buy?”

Sleeper answers with a happy hum and jumps from the table to the chair and onto the floor, slithering over to the couch. Upon spotting the mug of hot chocolate sitting on the coffee table, the little symbiote squeals in delight and promptly takes a bath in it, plunging in headfirst. Half-melted marshmallows fly over the surface of the table as the brown liquid sloshes over the rim of the mug. Sleeper squirms and writhes like a kid in a paddling pool.

“I think we’ve got him occupied for the rest of the evening” Eddie comments, laughing, and not for the first time he feels a trace of sadness at the thought of never being able to show and tell everyone, _this is my son and he’s the most beautiful, wondrous, crazy thing in the world._

**_This is all we need._** Venom caresses his shoulder, tendrils wrapping around him like an arm and Eddie knows he’s right. He washes doubts and sorrows away with hot chocolate and kisses the tendril that’s tickling his ear. The world may be about heroes and villains and the line between the two may be dangerously thin but this is so much more than that. It’s about them, ordinary and sometimes boring, disarming and loyal. A love of the common people.

“Sleeper couldn’t wish for a better father” he whispers and the answering shiver is reassurance enough as the sentiment is directed back at him. “This is good. We’re _good_. We make a difference.”

Eddie doesn’t remember much of the movie, he’d given up trying to pay attention when Sleeper crawled out of the now empty mug and snuck over to his parents onto the couch where he’d crept up Eddie’s throat and ear to climb onto his head and promptly pour all over his hair and forehead and over his eyes. Eddie had grumbled and wrinkled his nose, playing along and putting up a show. Sleeper, predictably, found it hysterical.

At some point the little symbiote ends up curled up in Eddie’s lap, Venom sprawled over Eddie’s chest and arms, a few tendrils coiled protectively and soothingly around Sleeper, cradling him. Distantly aware of the television flickering away, Eddie decides this is the image he wants to fall asleep to every night and he leans his head against the back of the couch, eyes fluttering closed as the credits roll over the screen.

 

~~~

 

When Eddie stumbles upon a doughnut-shaped cuddly toy in the window display of a shop on his way back from work a couple of days later, he doesn’t hesitate for a second. It even looks like the real thing with chocolate icing and colourful sprinkles, the works. Sleeper loves it.

**Author's Note:**

> (Science? What is that? Symbiotes can totally live on Earth just fine *waves hand*)  
> Hope you enjoyed! Leave me a comment if you like or say hi to me on [tumblr!](http://atravellingsoldierstaleofwinter.tumblr.com/) Thank you all and until next time! <3


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